POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS

From California to The Congo, Ireland to India, POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS examines some of the world's most horrific political murders of the second half of the 20th century.

The series takes an in-depth look at murders that changed the course of world history and forces viewers to consider some startling questions: Who benefited or was protected by these murders? What role did governments or government agencies play in these murders? Are there conspiracies to suppress the truth? POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS looks at these assassinations in light of new evidence, little known facts, and through vivid re-enactments and interviews with first hand witnesses.

September 12 – Death in Memphis: The Mysterious Assassination of Martin Luther King
In April 1968, Rev. Martin Luther King was at the height of his popularity. He had mobilized the black masses of America against apartheid and won Civil Rights concessions which made Blacks and Whites equal in the eyes of the Law. But J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, had an obsessional hatred of King and was determined to silence him. On the afternoon of April 4th, 1968, at his Memphis hotel, King was assassinated with a perfect shot. The search immediately centred on James Earl Ray, an escaped prisoner. But there are many who insist that Ray was just the fall-guy – and believe that the FBI set him up. Despite disturbing evidence, the case has never been opened for re-investigation. .

September 13 – The End of an American Dream: The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
With Robert F. Kennedy's death so ended a part of the American Dream. The bullet fired by the 22-year-old Jordanian immigrant Sirhan Bishara Sirhan on the 4th of June in 1968 extinguished this dream for many. Kennedy had become the aggressive and charismatic champion of the "forgotten" Americans following the assassination of President Kennedy. This earned him few friends in the America of the 60s, and even fewer friends of influence. Doubts over whether these shots were really fired from Sirhan Sirhan's weapon are shared by many of those who were looking forward to joining Robert Kennedy in an evening of victory celebrations. And many of them would still like to turn back the clock of history.

September 14 – Assassination: Colonial Style – Patrice Lumumba, an African Tragedy
Patrice Lumumba was the first Prime Minister of the newly independent African state, The Congo. To fellow Africans he was a hero - the man who had won his country's independence from the Belgians. But for the secret services of the western powers he was a threat. It was at the height of the Cold War, and Congo was vital to Western interests because of its vast mineral resources. CIA agent Larry Devlin received 100,000 dollars from the Agency along with telegraphed instructions to make the "elimination of Lumumba" the "priority goal" of his covert action. Within months of becoming Prime Minister, Lumumba was ousted by an army coup, inspired by the West. In early December, 1960, Patrice Lumumba and two of his Ministers were killed by members of the Belgian Secret Service. None of the murderers - or the men behind them - has ever been indicted, but Lumumba's voice still echoes throughout Africa today.

September 15 – Bloody Monday – The Assassination of Lord Louis Mountbatten
Glassybourne House at Mullaghmore in Ireland was the favourite holiday spot of Lord Louis Mountbatten, cousin to the Queen of England, naval war hero and the last Viceroy of India, the man who had supported Mahatma Ghandi's bid for independence. He thought he was safe there, believing he was well-loved locally, even though the Irish Republican Army was attacking prime targets in order to force Britain out of Northern Ireland. On the morning of August 27th, 1979, Lord Mountbatten's motor boat was blown up by an IRA bomb, killing him and three others.

September 19 – Death of a Pharaoh – Anwar Al Sadat and the Holy Warriors
Anwar al Sadat was the President of Egypt and the first Arab leader to try and break the wall of enmity between two peoples who laid claim to the same land. He was the first Arab leader to set foot on Israel's soil. He made an historic speech in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, and offered peace to the Arab's long standing enemy. But fundamentalist Lt. Khaled Islambouli and his fellow conspirators of the revolutionary Islamic brotherhood ‘Gamat Islamaya' saw him as a traitor. He became their target as they carried the Koran along with their automatic weapons, and set out to murder him during a military parade on the morning of October 6th, 1981.

September 20 – Death in Rome – The Case of Aldo Moro
On May 9th, 1978, police discover the body of Aldo Moro, President of the leading Christian Democratic Party in the boot of a Renault 4, parked in the centre of Rome. He had been shot in the heart eleven times after being kidnapped by terrorists of the Extreme Left - The Red Brigades. He was loved by the people because he was a champion for change. Today, many believe that the killing was really the work of an unholy alliance of conspirators - the Italian Secret Service, Right Wing politicians, and the CIA - who had tricked the Red Brigades into doing their dirty work.

September 21 – Murder in Stockholm – Who Killed Olof Palme?
On February 28th, 1986, at exactly 11.21 pm, in the heart of Stockholm, Sweden's Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot dead as he walked home alone without bodyguards, as was his habit. A troublemaker on the international political scene, he was as uncompromising with the White House as he was with the Kremlin, and a passionate spokesman for the Third World. Today the murder remains unexplained after more than fifteen years of investigation. The killer and the people behind the trigger are still on the loose.

September 22 – A Death for Peace – Mahatma Gandhi and the Impossible Quest
On January 20th, 1948, Gopal Godse, the man who promised himself to eliminate Gandhi ridicules himself in a failed attempt to kill the mahatma. However, only ten days later, his brother Nathuram will put en end to the life of the Father of the Partition of the Indian Empire into India and Pakistan. 50 years later, this film looks at how it all really happened.